Absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, pantiliners, and incontinence pads are devices that are typically worn in the crotch region of an undergarment. These devices are designed to absorb and retain liquid and other discharges from the human body and to prevent body and clothing soiling. Sanitary napkins are a type of absorbent article worn by women in a pair of panties that is normally positioned between the wearer's legs, adjacent to the perineum. Sanitary napkins of a wide variety of shapes and dimensions are currently used by women for the collection of menses and other bodily discharges.
In the past, a number of efforts have been directed at providing sanitary napkins that maintain contact with the wearer's body. One attempt to provide such body contact is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,747,575 issued May 29, 1956 to Mercer. The Mercer patent discloses a catamenial bandage having a longitudinal hump which bulges towards and may contact the body of the wearer. The catamenial bandage described in the Mercer patent suffers from several disadvantages, however. For instance, the size and shape of the absorbent pad and hump in the Mercer bandage appear to limit the conditions under which the bandage is able to maintain contact with (and conform to) the body of the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,130 issued to DesMarais on Jan. 10, 1984, discloses a compound sanitary napkin that comprises a primary menstrual pad and a panty protector joined to one another at their corresponding ends in such a manner that the two constituents are free to move relative to one another along essentially their entire common length. The primary menstrual pad is intended to absorb the bulk of the bodily fluids discharged by the user, while the panty protector is intended to protect the user's garments from soiling. In use, the relative freedom of movement between the primary menstrual pad and the panty protector serves to maintain the primary menstrual pad adjacent the user's crotch region while the panty protector remains associated with the user's undergarment.
It is also desirable that sanitary napkins, not only maintain contact with, but conform as closely as possible to the wearer's body. Such a body-conforming capability increases the effectiveness of the sanitary napkin by reducing the possibility that menses will travel around the perimeter of the sanitary napkin and leak. There have been a number of recent efforts to provide sanitary napkins and other absorbent articles with improved body-conforming characteristics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,264 issued to Osborn on Aug. 21, 1990, is directed to a thin, flexible sanitary napkin that is capable of handling medium to high menstrual flows. The sanitary napkin in the Osborn patent is described as being highly flexible and conforming very well to the various shapes of the female urogenital region. The Osborn patent discloses a sanitary napkin having a flexure resistance of less than about 130 grams; a test capacity of at least about 8 grams (per a 66.5 square centimeter section); and a total capacity of at least about 20 grams. The sanitary napkin may have a caliper of 2 mm, or less. The Osborn sanitary napkin is described as being worn in the wearer's underwear, and is preferably scaled to the width of the crotch of the wearer's underwear.
In addition, PCT International Patent Application Publication No. WO 94/16658, entitled “Generally Thin, Flexible Sanitary Napkin With Central Absorbent Hump”, published in the name of Osborn on Aug. 4, 1994, discloses a generally thin, flexible sanitary napkin which has a central absorbent hump, and is capable of handling medium to high menstrual flows. The hump is particularly useful in fitting into the space between the wearer's labia to more readily intercept menses and other bodily discharges when they leave the wearer's body. The search, however, has continued for improved sanitary napkins, particularly sanitary napkins that will achieve even better fit.
For example, current sanitary napkins are typically worn in a loose-fitting undergarment. Such sanitary napkins are necessarily designed to be large enough so that in the event of any shifting of the sanitary napkins from their position under the vaginal introitus, they will still be able to intercept the wearer's bodily discharges. Thus, a need exists for an absorbent article that fits closely, and comfortably against the wearer's body which is not required to be designed to compensate for poorly-fitting undergarments.
It has been theorized by the inventors that if an absorbent article with sufficiently high capacity is held closely but comfortably against the wearer's pudendal region, and in particular, covers the vaginal introitus, the surfaces of the labia majora, and perineum, during the entire period throughout which the absorbent article is worn, then an absorbent article can be provided which is of a greatly reduced size in comparison to current sanitary napkins. Such an absorbent article need only be large enough to cover these regions of the wearer's body, rather than being sized to accommodate shifting of the product with respect to the introitus.